OLD General Discussion thread 6:20am
Submitted by JustTalking on August 31, 2005 - 6:26am.
Good morning from the other side of the world! Phoebe here finally getting to launch a new GD thread.
Have a good Wednesday all. Please vote this one UP.
The previous General Discussion thread still has room for a few more comments so by all means go back and check it out!
Next thread is here: http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/234
CNN is saying 648 dead both on their web site and TV. 322 are injured and the hospitals are overwhelmed according to CNN.
Barry
http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/001362.html
By Bernie Quigley
I remember first of all Wesley Clark’s silvery-grey hair and his great smile, almost ear to ear when he is among friends, as he was in Little Rock, standing at a podium and addressing a small group who had come out to hear him announce...
I have to make my first blog post a good one. Ugh!!! If Im not a writer, can I still have writer's block?
Looks like MoDo is stuck with the same theme: No Democrat is willing to step forward and assume a leadership role within the party. I'm disappointed...I thought she (Dowd) was smarter than this. Instead she follows along on the same path that every other stagnant MSM player seems to be in step with at the moment.
See: The "Friends of Hillary" Are Not Going to Like This on my blog.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/225
###
Enjoy your day everyone! My thoughts & prayers are with the people of LA & MS. What a devastating tragedy....
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
Amazingly predictive paper on the current situation in NOLA
What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not
Missed New Orleans?
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/nov04/nov04c.html
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Author’s Note: This column was originally intended to be the final disaster in the “Disasters Waiting to Happen” series. As I was developing the hypothetical situation depicting a devastating hurricane striking New Orleans, Louisiana, the disaster waiting to happen threatened to become a reality: Hurricane Ivan, a category 4 hurricane (with 140 mph winds) fluctuating to a category 5 (up to 155 mph winds), was slowly moving directly toward New Orleans. Forecasters were predicting a one-in-four chance that Ivan would remain on this direct path and would be an “extreme storm” at landfall. In reality, the storm veered to the north and made landfall east of Mobile Bay, Alabama, causing devastation and destruction well into the central Gulf shoreline and throughout the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic states.
What if Ivan Had Hit New Orleans?
New Orleans was spared, this time, but had it not been, Hurricane Ivan would have:
Pushed a 17-foot storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain;
Caused the levees between the lake and the city to overtop and fill the city “bowl” with water from lake levee to river levee, in some places as deep as 20 feet;
Flooded the north shore suburbs of Lake Pontchartrain with waters pushing as much as seven miles inland; and
Inundated inhabited areas south of the Mississippi River.
Up to 80 percent of the structures in these flooded areas would have been severely damaged from wind and water. The potential for such extensive flooding and the resulting damage is the result of a levee system that is unable to keep up with the increasing flood threats from a rapidly eroding coastline and thus unable to protect the ever-subsiding landscape.
more at link.
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
on C-Span a bit ago, by Chuck Todd from the HotLine; said he'd been in Wisconsin and Iowa, and in Iowa, was with Lieut. Gov/Head of Dem party, which means something to other Dems
I watch WAJournal every morning but it's so rainy/flooding this morning I decided to sleep in and missed the HotLine. Glad you caught it el! Good to know he's at least getting mentioned! :)
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest places if you look at it right.
--Hunter/Garcia
Knowing this time around that such a devastating hurricane was headed right to New Orleans, and knowing how devastating water over the levees or a break in the levee could be, and knowing there were people who could not/would not evacuate a major U.S. city, I believe that Bush and Co. should have considered what the federal government could have done to assist the state and the city, BEFORE the hurricane hit land. I believe Wes would have considered contingency plans. But Bush was again on vacation - and out selling his own political agenda. The state of the nation was not his primary concern. It is going to be interesting to see if he changes his policy on global warning. Somehow I suspect he will be calling for more scientific research/evidence.
We watch the scenes on CNN (our only English language news channel) with saddness as two large typhoons (Pacific hurricanes) spin their way towards us. One is just now touching us and will be here in hours. Originally it was headed right through central Taiwan, where we are, but veered a bit north. It is a biggie and the damage will be great, especially in northern Taiwan and in the mountain areas where our village is. We will be safe here in our home in Puli, but it will be no fun. Don't know if the electricity and phones will hold up, but will blog as late tonight as I can. Then another one is on the way. It hopefully looks like it is moving more northward but one never knows what goes on in the minds of these monsters.
We are familiar with these. Had to hike over mountains last year to take food and needed items to Judy and Billy in our mountain house. In 2001 there was a huge one that they are comparing the one tonight with. So our prayers are with those victims of the terrible onslaught in LA, MI and AL, and with those in the north of our little island. Here there is no place to run because a typhoon covers the whole island.
For some reason I have not been able to get into TPMCafe. I got a new password, it didn't work. Send for another one, it didn't come. Sent for another one and we shall see. In the meantime enjoy the wonderful posts by one and all. Espcially thanks to ice for the lowdown on the Wisconsin appearance. As I have mentioned many times before I spent several years in Taiwan after my military service where Dad was at the ROTC unit at Marquette University. I was a time keeper at one factory and a turret lathe operator and drill press operator at another. Milwaukee is a factory town, so when in Rome, ... (But I love the German restaurants and the many family pubs).
Noel
from the same side of the world you are on. You launched the thread just dandy! I haven't tried yet as everyone is so efficient.
Our prayers are with you, Uncle Noel and for your friends to the north. Good luck.
Hi Everyone,
I also posted an inquiry on the Eye of the Storm blog, but please, has anyone heard anything from/about Clearsky?
I don't post often, but I lurk nearly every day, and I've always enjoyed reading her posts and the articles she provides in the morning hours!
Thanks,
Marti
Marti,
We have not heard from Clearsky in weeks. We don't know what happened to her. Whatever caused her to disappear from the blog predates both the CCN changeover and the hurricane.
Everyone has been concerned, but Clearsky never gave any contact information to anyone that I know of, so we can't really find out why she's not here.
Maria
that it is a health issue that has kept her away all these weeks. She was about as regular a poster as there is. I think it would have taken a major event of some kind to keep her away this long. I also think she would have given us a heads up if she could have anticipated being away for very long. Remember.....she said she doesn't travel.
I wish someone would let us know....
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
Clearsky just disappeared. WesPAC might have an address for her. But I don't think she ever shared any of that info with fellow bloggers. It might be best for WesPAC to make sure she's ok. They shouldn't tell us about it--Clearsky's a very private person. But if there is something really wrong, I'd guess she'd love to hear from Wes.
icantbelieve/Maria...
hopefully, someone at WesPAC does have some contact information with her, even if it isn't shared here (which I understand). I know she made contributions to the General during the campaign and afterwards, so someone somewhere must have her address!
Marti
Hi Maria,
Thank you for your response! I didn't know she hadn't been posting in awhile--guess I haven't been lurking in the morning hours as often as I'd thought...
My heart goes out to her and to everyone in the devastated area...I haven't been down that way in years and years, but I remember it well.
Marti
I just posted this question in the other discussion thread, but I don't know it was too old for others to really give it a look...
We have a 1,000 oil tank in the ground. We don't desparately need oil, but I'd like to have the oil tank filled because I fear the prices will go higher as each day goes by. Does anybody have any sound advice on whether I should call to get the tank filled today?
Where the heck was I when I answered that question???
Anyway, if it were me, I'd keep my inventory as low as I could get away with. But that's just me.
Here's an analysis of the state of things in the Gulf of Mexico:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/30/markets/oil.reut/index.htm
I thought I just heard on the TV that Bush gave the OK to open the oil reserves. I got an unexpected phone call (Dr appointment reminder call) while the announcement was given on TV. I didn't hear the whole thing because I had to shut the TV off to hear the girl on the phone.
Did anyone hear this announcement? If yes, do you think that would bring the oil prices down temporairly? I need to hit the right time to call to get the oil tank filled.
We bought my in-laws house a couple of years ago. One of the many things I don't like about the house is there is no gauge for the oil level in the tank. I believe we have enough oil to last a few weeks, but I don't really know for sure.
Energy Sec.Sam Bogman, said oil will be tapped from the Reserve! This was announced on CNN. So hang on...
At least til Labor Day Weekend is over. I have a half tank of oil, and will have it filled in Sept. However, I went yesterday and bought a Lasko ceramic tower heater, to cut the cost of oil for heat. It is mobile and can be moved to rooms. However, my home is small, and could cover a couple rooms. Electric will be cheaper than oil. I am hoping to cut my cost in half. These units are efficient, safe, and they oscillate to push the heat across the area. I have friends that have them and they say are safe, as you don't leave them on when not at home or sleeping. $50.00 unit,could save costs on oil. I fear the winter is going to be costly, and may decide to buy another one...testing it out on the first cold day..Just my 2 cents...
With more talk about a 2008 presidential race between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of State Condi Rice, do you think the country's ready to elect a woman president?
• Yes 57%
• No 43%
Also, at the very top of the same page, a question is posed: Did Rove Lie? Tell Polling Point What You Think.>>>>>>
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
Too cool. Ice is on the front page, and FrenchieCat is over there dancing. :).
Good morning everyone.
Wonder what the TPM topic will be today. Disappointed to see General Clark did not have time to reply to many questions on the GI Bill, but we know what he was doing, and what a busy day he had yesterday, and Monday too for that matter.
CORONADO, Calif. -- President Bush answered growing antiwar protests yesterday with a fresh reason for US troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists.'
will now see that the bastard is finally willing to admit why we invaded Iraq in the first place. :(
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
The country is lost. All that remains is the decision on where to flee. This indicates we are a nation of willfully ignorant morons by majority and we have more nukes than anyone else on the planet.
Sooner or later the rest of the world will realize we are a threat to all of them and ourselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/31religion.html
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
Hi Fremont,
I read this article earlier, and it made my blood boil and my bile rise!
At times I feel like I've been living in a protective bubble, being taught evolution, with all of its flaws, being taught to respect others' beliefs, and not to force my own on others, and to stand up for what I believe in, too!
Have I been living a hallucination? Do Amercians really believe that a scientific theory supported by decades and decades of empirical evidence must be taught in conjunction with a POLITICAL and RELIGIOUS proposition that has no basis in scientific fact and nothing to support it whatsoever?
If so, it seems to me that we can just believe any old thing we want to and insist that it be taught in the schools. John Stewart joked that Bush now wants the "flat earth" theory taught, too!
Depressed,
Marti
This excerpt was taken from Wikipedia online about mind control. It explains a lot about problems dealing with creationists.
Mind control and faith
Leon Festinger based his theory of the cognitive dissonance, a component of Hassan's Mind Control model, on his observation that the faith of most members of a UFO cult was unshattered by failed prophecy. [12].
Barrett who is affiliated with CESNUR and Eileen Barker, whom some anti-cult activists consider cult apologists, wrote that logical arguments are irrelevant when trying to persuade some members to leave a movement due to the certainty that they have about their faith which he sees as not confined to cults, but also occurring in some forms of mainstream religion. He also wrote that some members do not leave the movement even though they realize that things are wrong. See also Leaving a cult.
Just got this post from a right-winger nut job: (formerly, it appears.) "things may not bode well for President Bush. A variety of events and circumstances could possibly conspire and intersect to create the possibility that he may indeed be impeached. I cite the high price of fuel, the Iraq War, global warming theories, and the fact that he is doing little to nothing to secure our borders."
We may yet label 2005 as the "Year of the Great Awakening."
Why?
All the homeless from the hurricane might as well start making their way to Washington for the Sep 24 protest - for obvious reasons. The Bush Administration is destroying our country and, one could argue, the world. The sooner Bush et al are removed from power, the better.
I know a certain general who'd be great at putting the US back on track...
I think they should move into the ranch in Crawford. Maybe that would force Bush to stay at work for a while.
I love that idea. Really, why not? And let him stay there "on vacation" handing out food at Laura's Soup Kitchen!
with impeachment is that we could find ourselves stuck with Cheney - sometimes its a case of better the devil you know, etc......
to your friend's comments, here is an excerpt from an article citing the Bush Administration's role in this potentially avoidable disaster.
~~~~~~~~~~
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
~~~~~~~~~~
more can be found at:
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
Can someone straighten this guy out? Lara in TN?
Wes Clark back on the campaign trail
Lebanon Democrat - Lebanon,TN,USA
... A veteran of many armed conflicts, Clark is now showing he can be a wily old general on the political battlefield as well -- something he did not show during ...
The pResident's on the job? :O
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Governor: Everyone Must Leave New Orleans
By BRETT MARTEL (AP)NEW ORLEANS - The governor of Louisiana says everyone needs to leave New Orleans due to flooding from Hurricane Katrina. "We've sent buses in. We will be either loading them by boat, helicopter, anything that is necessary," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. Army engineers struggled without success to plug New Orleans' breached levees with giant sandbags, and the governor said Wednesday the situation was worsening and there was no choice but to abandon the flooded city.
"The challenge is an engineering nightmare," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "The National Guard has been dropping sandbags into it, but it's like dropping it into a black hole."
As the waters continued to rise in New Orleans, four Navy ships raced toward the Gulf Coast with drinking water and other emergency supplies, and Red Cross workers from across the country converged on the devastated region. The Red Cross reported it had about 40,000 people in 200 shelters across the area in one of the biggest urban disasters the nation has ever seen.
The death toll from Hurricane Katrina reached at least 110 in Mississippi alone, ...
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Meanwhile, in an effort to deflect Bush's failure to support New Orleans (SELA) Levee Project against Category 5 hurricanes and inabilty to deploy sufficient numbers of National Guard units to prevent mass looting and provide security (such as yesterday's prisoner/hostage situation) and relief efforts, ....
.......the WH "guesses"
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Katrina economic impact likely limited
17 minutes agoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina is likely to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy as long as the hit to the energy sector proves transitory, White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
"Clearly, it's going to affect the Gulf Coast economy quite a bit," Bernanke told CNBC television. "That's going to be enough to have at least a noticeable or at least some impact on the aggregate (national) data.
"Looking forward ... reconstruction is going to add jobs and growth to the economy," he added. "As long as we find that the energy impact is only temporary and there's not permanent damage to the infrastructure, my guess is that the effects on the overall economy will be fairly modest." ...
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How unlikely is that?
"Some of us are still eating hotdogs...and that's an astonishing thing." -- Wes Clark
for more on this same issue. (Posted at 11:37 am.....for lack of a number to associate it with)
I don't approve of political jokes.....I've seen too many of them get elected.
PLANNED PARENHOOD ACTION ALERT!
When I wrote to you about "Our Plan to Save Roe" on June 24, I told you that I would communicate with you to keep you up to the minute about Supreme Court happenings. Since then, each of my weekly e-mails has focused on our Save Roe Campaign. Today, however, I am writing to you about a different, and equally important, subject.
After years of delay, last Friday, the FDA once again denied women increased access to Plan B emergency contraception (EC) also known as the "morning-after pill." Although the medical and scientific communities firmly support this safe and effective form of birth control, the FDA again delayed its decision on whether to make EC available without a prescription and now says it wants to hear from the public before making a ruling.
This deferment comes at a particularly poignant time. As Hurricane Katrina ripped through the southeastern United States, Planned Parenthood was there to offer one free month of birth control or one free emergency contraception kit to women from Louisiana and Mississippi. In past disasters, we know there has been an increased demand for EC. Since the FDA says it wants to hear from the public before making a ruling, let's raise our voices to a volume that cannot be ignored and let them know that EC is an essential part of women's health care.
Take two actions for EC and show that Americans want increased access to birth control — NOW!
Urge your member of Congress to hold a hearing to investigate the FDA's diversion tactics. Ensure that Congress questions the FDA about this unprecedented delay. Does the FDA practice health science or political science? We want to know.
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/ec_otc_delayed2/step1.tcl
Be represented at a public hearing. In the next three months, the FDA is holding public hearings in Miami, Boston, and Phoenix, and Planned Parenthood will be there every step of the way. Stand with us and be counted.
http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/ec_otc_petition2/step1.tcl
Studies show that wider access to EC could prevent up to 1.7 million unintended pregnancies a year — and 800,000 abortions. However, anti-choice opponents are pressuring the government not to increase access to this drug and the FDA is complying.
Speak out now to ensure that the FDA puts sound science before ideology.
Thank you for your help in focusing attention on this critical issue. I will write to you later this week and let you know where things stand with our Save Roe Campaign.
Karen Pearl
Interim President
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
On behalf of the Planned Parenthood community
By Juliet Eilperin
From the Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/9zdhy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 31
The Bush administration has drafted regulations that would ease pollution controls on older, dirtier power plants and could allow those that modernize to emit more pollution, rather than less.
The language could undercut dozens of pending state and federal lawsuits aimed at forcing coal-fired plants to cut back emissions of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, said lawyers who worked on the cases.
""
(More at link)
"In too many areas we have spawned 'leadership' that does not lead, that panders to our whims rather than telling us the truth, that follows the crowd rather than challenging us, that weakens us rather than strengthening us." - Sen. Paul Simon
...must be feeling the pain in his wallet. Never mind so much about the life-sacrifices based on lies and driven by lust for oil and greed for power...(metaphor intended)
My youngest has said from the beginning that when enuf Americans feel the pain, that's when the 'tide will rise'. (metaphor intended)
...idiot-tragic-catastrophic...New Orleans
Will somebody at WesPAC please find Clearsky!
"Some of us are still eating hotdogs...and that's an astonishing thing." -- Wes Clark
New Orleans news, from the horse's mouth:
I still can't believe that it actually happened, even scientists, climatologists, and expert officials warned that it would, eventually.
I think the Best of Blogs list is actually longer than shown and rotates what is shown. I was on about 1 this morning when very few if any people were around and there hadn't been a post in about 20 minutes, but no matter how often I refreshed, the BoB list changed like every other time.
I noticed yesterday that it depended on what page I was on, what showed in BoB. If I was on the front page, it had a certain list, then I'd go to the GD thread, and on the left it would be different. I was going to post a comment about it, and when I pulled up the comment box, it changed again. I figured everybody's just think I was crazy, so I didn't mention it at that time. :)
Officials Helpless Against Looters
By KEVIN McGILL
The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 31, 2005; 11:41 AM
See photo > Click on > enlarge photo > click on gallery > click on Rescued From the Storm. Is this our country or is this SELA denied devastation in 'war-torn' America???
``It looks like Hiroshima,'' Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said of parts of Harrison County, which includes the hardest-hit cities of Biloxi and Gulfport.
"Some of us are still eating hotdogs...and that's an astonishing thing." -- Wes Clark
Jacksonville Declaration of the Christian Alliance for Progress
If you're a Christian or know someone who has not quite fallen for the theofascist heresy yet, take a look.
.
.
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
Please read my response to you about oil in the ground tank? Last "thread." Thanks! :)
Nevermind
I must say that was one time-costly-link-text-embed-in-post for old Syb to apply in an attempt to keep from widening this thread?...what the hay. My levee is breached. I give up. f'kit, can't please everybody as they say...who's got time?
Tiny url is screwed by the way for various reasons.
I wonder if the thread widening is not caused by deeply nested posts as per OLD, rather than long links which don't cause me a problem here, but that's just what this old incompetent suspects. Thread widening seems like nothing more than a pesky gnat up my nostril at this point anyway.
"Some of us are still eating hotdogs...and that's an astonishing thing." -- Wes Clark
Well, he sure can laugh at himself and has a sense of humor! :)
Someone has asked about New Orleans. Not the first rude comment, but a second comment on the subject which is polite. Although it is completely off topic, I wouldn't mind seeing Wes's answer.
My cousin e-mailed to say she'd talked with one of her mother's caregivers, who left N.O. with her kids and went to Galveston with $100 in her pocket. She's staying at a La Quinta. She thinks she'll go to Atlanta where my cousin lives (the cousins will cover the expenses) and try to get a life there. They will need all new everything. The kids will think it's Christmas and a very long vacation all rolled into one. Hopefully, the lady will be able to get a job at the facility where my elderly aunt will go, if we can ever get her to Atlanta. Air ambulance service standing by to go get her, but nobody is allowed into Covington, so we can't get anybody in to retrieve her and take her to Baton Rouge. This is soooo nuts.
I suspect people are going to realize they are homeless and will rely on friends, family, anybody else they can think of to contact to help them move into a place where they can get some sort of job, get their kids in school and a place to live, while they figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. This is what the hispanic immigrants do so well. New Orleans will have to scatter out around the country, doing whatever work they can wherever they are to make a living. If this isn't a wake up call for universal health insurance, I don't know what is. An entire city is going to have to temp in America until they can get regular work.
but best of luck to you and yours. We're all watching and hoping.
From American Progress Action Fund, Talking Points archives....
Poverty and Uninsured Rising in the Land of Plenty
August 31, 2005
A new U.S. Census Bureau report finds that the number of Americans in poverty and without health insurance grew for the 4th straight year. Thirty-seven million Americans now live in poverty—nearly 13 percent of the population—and 45.8 million lack basic health insurance coverage. The Census Bureau also reports that median household income remained stagnant for the fifth straight year. The fruits of the so-called Bush “economic recovery” are clearly not reaching most Americans.
Corporate pay and profits skyrocket while the ranks of the poor and uninsured increase. With millions of Americans trying to keep up and get ahead, corporations and CEOs enjoyed another banner year. In 2004, the average CEO made 430 times the average worker, up from a ratio of 301-to-1 in 2003. If the minimum wage had grown at the same rate as CEO pay since 1990, "the lowest paid workers in the US would be earning $23.03 an hour today," according to United for a Fair Economy. Corporate profits are also at record highs. Despite this economic bounty for the nation’s largest companies, millions of Americans cannot find decent paying work or basic health coverage.
Wages remain stagnant as workers fail to get their fair share for helping America’s economy. Unlike every other economic recovery on record, the recent economic upswing has not translated into increased wages or benefits for workers. Median income failed to increase for the fifth straight year, the first time that's happened since the government began collecting the data in 1967. Many people saw their earnings actually decrease. For example, the median income for all non-elderly households decreased by $600 as compared to 2003. In the Midwest, median household income fell by $1,277.
The discredited trickle-down economic formula—tax cuts for the rich and corporations; low wages and benefits for workers—has again undermined economic opportunity for Americans. Unfortunately, our nation’s right-wing political leaders have failed to learn the lessons of history: trickle-down theories of helping those at the top to aid everyone else failed to help most Americans get ahead during the 1980s and the same path is failing our people today. Despite the obvious limitations of this approach, the Bush administration and right-wing economists hailed yesterday’s Census report as “progress.”
From American Progress Action Fund, Talking Points archives....
Poverty and Uninsured Rising in the Land of Plenty
August 31, 2005
A new U.S. Census Bureau report finds that the number of Americans in poverty and without health insurance grew for the 4th straight year. Thirty-seven million Americans now live in poverty—nearly 13 percent of the population—and 45.8 million lack basic health insurance coverage. The Census Bureau also reports that median household income remained stagnant for the fifth straight year. The fruits of the so-called Bush “economic recovery” are clearly not reaching most Americans.
Corporate pay and profits skyrocket while the ranks of the poor and uninsured increase. With millions of Americans trying to keep up and get ahead, corporations and CEOs enjoyed another banner year. In 2004, the average CEO made 430 times the average worker, up from a ratio of 301-to-1 in 2003. If the minimum wage had grown at the same rate as CEO pay since 1990, "the lowest paid workers in the US would be earning $23.03 an hour today," according to United for a Fair Economy. Corporate profits are also at record highs. Despite this economic bounty for the nation’s largest companies, millions of Americans cannot find decent paying work or basic health coverage.
Wages remain stagnant as workers fail to get their fair share for helping America’s economy. Unlike every other economic recovery on record, the recent economic upswing has not translated into increased wages or benefits for workers. Median income failed to increase for the fifth straight year, the first time that's happened since the government began collecting the data in 1967. Many people saw their earnings actually decrease. For example, the median income for all non-elderly households decreased by $600 as compared to 2003. In the Midwest, median household income fell by $1,277.
The discredited trickle-down economic formula—tax cuts for the rich and corporations; low wages and benefits for workers—has again undermined economic opportunity for Americans. Unfortunately, our nation’s right-wing political leaders have failed to learn the lessons of history: trickle-down theories of helping those at the top to aid everyone else failed to help most Americans get ahead during the 1980s and the same path is failing our people today. Despite the obvious limitations of this approach, the Bush administration and right-wing economists hailed yesterday’s Census report as “progress.”
I lost CCN completely and could not get back for quite a bit. Seems when I lost it, I also received a double post. ??
I'm sorry.
I saw on cnn.com that typhoons were headed toward Taiwan and came to CCN immediately to see whether you'd checked in. I'm so glad that you'll be safe (it sounds like Judy and Billy are with you--is that right?), but it sounds like the storms will be really bad. I hope your village home will be okay.
Here's the cnn.com story on Taiwan--a little hard to find since it's crowded out by news of our own hurricane:
http://tinyurl.com/ard26
We'll be thinking of you, Noel. Thank you for keeping us updated.
Renate
OT for Tech types...
Looks like advomatic server or network is hosed or attacked. My pings show I am 105ms from it (and this blog since traceroutes end there for securing america) and yet each page refresh takes 1-3 minutes. The same slow response is at every advomatic page I have tried. Google is instant so it seems to be the final 2 hop (which may be hidden from traceroute) to the securingamerica.com servers and advomatic server.
I peer direct with abovenet via the sixnap (Setup when Avi Freeman was admin long ago) to San Jose CA
my traceroute:
Trace www.securingamerica.com; Start time 08/31/05 10:14:44
Tracing route to 208.185.251.175
50 bytes from 208.185.251.175: time=105 ms
Hop Avg Diff Address
1 0 0 192.168.1.1
2 47 47 xx.xx.xxx.x xxx-x-x-1.deleated.com
3 43 -4 207.246.129.33 v3-1000M.core0.sea.accretive-networks.net
4 42 -1 207.246.155.131 g5-0-5-1000M.br3.sea.accretive-networks.net
5 70 28 198.32.180.19 six.above.net
6 72 2 64.125.28.182 so-3-2-0.mpr3.sjc2.us.above.net
7 148 76 64.125.30.90 so-2-0-0.er10a.sjc2.us.above.net
8 71 -77 208.185.251.175 www2.advomatic.com
End time 08/31/05 10:14:54
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"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
ok response times are speeding up so someone may be updating or changing stuff in the background...
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
Please be safe in Taiwan. We need your wisdom here at the Clark station.
on CNN now.. assuring everyone about evacuations, etc.
Also note: We are now at the mercy of dedicated Deaniacs which may explain the lack of anything resembling bottom up input from the users having any effect on the usability of this site.
May Dean have mercy on our blog...
If Trippi shows up I swear I will flee and start stockpiling food and ammo for the coming implosion.
"Those who cavalierly reject the Theory of Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all."
--Herbert Spencer: Nineteenth-century English social scientist
A massive stampede in Baghdad, apparently sparked by rumours of a suicide bombing, has left hundreds dead. The details are still emerging as I head off to bed. No doubt more will be known by the time most of you are logging on.
Seems a bridge collapsed and people are still be hauled out of the Tigris River.
The Melbourne Age (quoting Reuters) says 575 dead.
The BBC says at least 500 but I just heard a radio report that says 180.